THE DAIRY.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1585, 31 August 1882, Page 3

THE DAIRY.

Guenon's trial uei'oiie the Pkn'xsylvania GuEvfyN Commission, Unitkd States America.

(Continued.)

A RKOORD is made by the commission on the 9pot ; an account of the qualities of each head is drawn up by the owner. Each is made at separate times, and without the knowledge of the other party. Then the two accounts are copied off into parallel columns for comparison. If the accounts agree in seventylive per cent, out of one hundred, it certainly must be presumed the system has sufficient value to make it worthy of adoption by all farmers and breeders. As every farmer knows the yield is much influenced by the feed, the care, the exposure, and the treatment of the cows ; therefore, a certain amount of allowance must be made, for these various things will so alter matters, that no one can tell to a quart, or a pound of butter, or to the week in time of milking. In fact, every farmer knows, neither the owner himself nor his man can tell to a quart how much his cow or cows actually give unless a daily record is kept every day of every year. For even if he does keep such a record, he will find the vaiious circumstances named above affecting the quantities in his, record. Therefore, the earnest seeker after truth, comparing the statements made in the two columns, must not expect the two to tally without some variations. The true spirit with which he must examine these statements, will suggest itself in the question : Is this a system by which I can judge of the value and quantities of a cow correctly ? Isthisasystem that will show me thepoints of a cow, good or bad, more correctly than by any other method? Let the candid inquirer weigh these statements, and think if he knows of any method by which he can go into a herd and surely pick out the best cows, pud leave the poor ones to those who judge not by this system. Every farmer has his own mode of judging, but take the shiewdest and most practiced, can he avoid often the bastards ? What the commission find they can do, is that in a large majority of the percentage of cases they ■will give a good estimate of the qualities of any animal. Their opinions of the time a cow will go is based uuon what they think should be the tieatmeiit of all cows, viz : that every cow should have a rest of fiom four to five weeks at least. — The membeisof the Ouenon Commission, Messrs Harvey, Blight, Hazard, and Thomas T. Edge, visited the farm of John B. Barney, on the 9th May, IS7S, and examined twelve cows, mostly grade Durhams, grade Jerseys, and farm stock, and they weie uniformly successful in judging t»f said stock by Gucnons system, with only some difference of opinion on two of them. Mr J. B. Barney writes his testimony as follows: — "I was piesent at the examination of twelve of the cows of my herd, and think the committee were so uniformly successful in judging of the merits of the diffeicnt cows, with such slight variations of opinion between us, as to increase my belief in the Guenon system being of great advantage to the fanneis in selecting stock. Signed, John B. Barney, C'haddsford, Chester County, May 16th, IS7S." The members of the Guenon Commission visited the dairy farm of Mai shall, Strode and Son, who have a large butter factory, and are celebrated for their fiist-class butter, and they examined seventeen head of grade dairy stock, and, according to the tc&titimony of Mr Strode, who accompanied them in their examinations, weie successful in judging according to the Guenon system, fifteen cows out of seventeen examined. Viewed May 10th. Present : Messrs Harvey, Blight, Hazaid, and Edge Messrs Marshall, Strode and Sons give their testimony as follow : " Having been present when the members of the Guenon commission examined seventeen of our held, and having witnessed the accuracy with which they determined the quality of the stock inspected, we bear testimony to the fact that their judgment was correct, accoi ding to our expeiience with the cows except two, and even in these they were paitially successful ; and we are more confirmed in our previous belief in the value of the system, as we never buy a cow for a good one that is not well marked. We run a da ; ry of seventy-one cows. Signed. — Marshall, Strode and Sons, East Bradford, May 13, IS7S." The commission visited one of the farms of William Calder, near Harrisburg. This gentleman has seven farms, containing nine hundred acres, and keeps a variety of stock. On the farm visited, near the reservoir, the commission examined eight head of grade stock, in very good order, on good September pasturage. The dairyman, a very intelligent man, had no record of the exact quantity and quality of the yield, but, as he milked them himself, a knowledge of their general qualities, and upon hearing the decision of the commission upon each cow, assented to ■ the character t^iven of all of them, except on two points— one as to yield, and another as to time. It was pleasing to notice the surprise and delight expressed by him at the exhibition, by entire strangers to the herd, of such accurate knowledge of them as the system showed it could give, and he determined to acquire it forthwith. The commission saw a very fine black grade cow, with the calf by her side, a perfect specimen of the Belted stock, though sired by a thoroughbred Jersey Bull — to be accounted for only by the fact that the cow had been served by a Belted bull the third time before this one. We now come to a very important examination of several herds near West Grove, blanketed under the supervision of the Experimental Farm Club. It had been stated by some that the commission used the ordinary means of judging of the value of cows, in addition to the Guenon test. This was, of couise, entirely denied by the Commission ; and as it appeared in the public print, the commission, to settle the matter in the minds of candid men, offered to have any number of cows blanketed so that only their posteriors could be seen, and then judge of their escutcheons, provided a committee should be present at the examination, view it closely and give a report, Thus pressed, the challenge was accepted, and there was appointed a committee of five of some of the best farmers and dairymen residing near the Experimental Farm. It was also understood that any could attend who wished to, and on the day of the examination three of the committee were present, as well as a number of other farmers. The coraraiesion examined the first five in the

stable, blanketed, then two unblauketed then two blanketed, and the remaining four unblanketed. The report of tliii committoe is abdended herewith. How ever, I think it is only necessary to pub lish the blanketed ones. The cows wen examined on a farm of Thomas Gaw throp, near West Grove. Afterward i number of cows were examined on severa farms in the neighbourhood, in th< presence of the committee. No longei time was required to form an opinion or the blanketed cows than on the others, and the comparative results can be judged from the accompanying tables, The commission met them on the daj appointed at the farm of Thomas Gawthrop, and in the presence of the committee and others, exn mined seven cows blanketed and would have examined more, but the committee said it was useless, as they could bee, and had full faith that only the escutcheon was considered by the commission. On this farm thirteen head were examined, and the results are herewith given. All then adjourned to the farm of Mark Hughes, Howaid Preston, and Eveiaid Conrad, and examined other stock in the presence of the committee. The committee's report will be found annexed, thus setting attest the charge that the commission were examining by any other than the Guenon test. I have this report by me as well as many other repoits, bnt as I mentioned before I shall not publish more than the blanketed one. I shall be glad however to show the full lists to anyone wishing to see them. T. Gawthiop's account of cows examined at T. Gawthrop's farm, September 20th, 1880 :— No. I.— Victoria-Giade Jersey and Durham ; quantity, fiist ; quality, first. A lirst-class butter cow and milks well up to time. — No, 2. Cecil, Giade Jersey ; quantity, first; quality, first. Milks up to tune.— No. 3, Nellie, quantity, second ; quality, second. Dry from ten to twelve weeks.— No. 4, Lucy, Recently pnrchased. Yields three months fiom calving, tliiitecn quaits. Quality, first.— No. 5, Lily, Grade Jersey ; quantity, second ; quality, fiist. Milks up to her time. — No. 8, Star, Grade three-quar-teis Jeisey. Yield with fiist calf fiom t\\ elvc to fourteen quarts per day, and milks well up to her time. Quality, firstclass. — No. 9, Norah ; quantity, first ; quality, first. Dry fiom eight to ten weeks. The Guenon commission's account of cows examined at Gawthrop's farm, September 20th, 1880 :— No. 1. VictoriaGrade, Jersey and Durham, eight years : quantity, first; quality, fiist. Up to her time. — No. 2. Cecil : quantity, first; quality, first. Short eight weeks. — No. 3. Nellie-Demijohn Ist : quantity, second; quality, first. Short eight weeks. No. 4. — Lucy-Flauders2nd : quantity, second ; quality, first. Up to her time. No. 5. Lilly-Grade, Jersey, Flanders 2nd, quantity, second ; quality, first. Dry four to six ■weeks. No. 8. — Star-Grade, three quarter Jersey, Flanders 3rd : quantity, second ; quality, first. Dry six weeks. Her Jersey blood helps to overcome some blemishes on her escutcheon. No. 9. Norah-Grade : quantity first ; quality, first. Up to her time. These cows were so blanketed as to show only the escutcheon. The committee, Messrs Thomas Gaw throp, Everad Conrad, Howard Preston, Mark Hughes, have put their signatures to the following :—": — " The examination of our herds of cows, some of which were <xneredbya large blanket, completely excluding from view every part of the animal except the escutcheon and back part of the udder, subjected the commission to the severest test that could be applied ; and, agreeing, as their estimate of quality and quantity does, with our previously written reports, leads us to think that in the hands of experts it would be a valuable aid in judging the quality of dairy stock." The Pennsylvania Guenon Commission end their report by saying :—": — " Having given the results of their work, the commission whuld now leave the further solution of the pioblem, to the piactical daiiymen of the State. They, of coiusc, expect that not only their report, but also the correctness of the system will be criticised ; but if this ciiticism is conducted with a spirit of fail ness, and with a view to obtain the truth, they fully believe the lesult will be favotable. By direction of the Commission. (Signed) Willis P. Hazard, Secretary." In my next paper I will give the difleient opinions of the system. lIOKACX WALPOLL. Te Awamutu, 2lst August, 1885. (To be continued.)

Tiir Noblest Pursuit of Woman.— An honest man. " Soon Stuj'F as Dreams ark Made ov.' ( — Heavy suppers, bottled stout. A max with a small salary and large family say& if pride goes before a fall, he would like to see pride start on a little ahead of the price ot coal and provision. Wouldn't She Make an Eligible Partner ! — A gentleman whose vocabulary was mixed wised praise a certain ladyreader, 'besides being a very fine elocutionist, she has a great deal of ejaculation.' Old Newgate. — 'Old Newgate,' as the gaol of 1672 is usually called, consisted of three distinct prisons — the Master's Side, Common Side, and Press Yard. The first was occupied by debtors whose means enabled them to pay fixed rents for their accommodation, in addition to the fees, which under the names of 'footing,' ' garnish,' and 'chummage,' were demandsd by the turnkeys or by their fellow-prisoners. On the arrival of a new-comer, his companions intimated their willingness to ' drink his health,' a ptocess for which two ' taps,' one on the Common Side, the other in the Lodge, offered ample facility. Should the new arrival be either unable or unwilling to pay the ' footing ' thus demanded, he was required to sacrifice a part of his scanty wardrobe for the purpose ; and his fellowprisoners were nat slow to enforce the rule, if their victim hesitated to comply. ' Garnish ' was a payment openly extorted by the keepers of the gaol as a species of entrance fee, under the pretence of supply extia comforts for the prisoner; while 'chummage' is a term, the meaning ot which seems to have difl'eied in different gaols. On the authority of the Slang Dictionary we learn that ' chumming-up ' was 'an old custon among prisoners before the present regulations were in vogue ; when a fresh man was admitted to their number, rough music was made with pokers, tongs, sticks, and saucepans ; and for this ovation the initiated prisoner had to pay half a crown. North of the Hall lay one of the most horrible apartments of the prison, known as Jack Ketch's Kitchen, fitted with furnaces and boilers, for the purpose of boiling the heads and limbs of executed criminals in a preparation of oil and pitch, previous to their exhibition on Temple Bar and other public places in the city. Female felons occupied Beparate wards, named Waterman's Hall and My Lady's Hold ; and debtors of the fair sex were aecomodated in a room above the Kitchen. Two Condemned Holds, one for each sex, which were also used by the turnkeys for the temporary correction of such of their charges as grew refractory under their exactions ; the Press Room, an apartment in which torture was inflicted in order to compel the accused to plead ; the ohapel ; and the houses ot the Governor and keepers, may be roughly said to have completed the interior arrangements of the prison.— 1 Chambers Journal \